Klaas de Vries

Sexual abuse is sports is a common and far reaching problem in the Netherlands, according to an investigation by a committee led by Klaas de Vries. Twelve percent of athletes experienced sexual transgressive behavior in their sports club as a child, Four percent faced sexual assault or rape, NOS reports.

Another two former football players reported being sexually abused at their football clubs when they were children. One was abused as a youth player for Sparta Rotterdam in the 90s, the other at FC Eindhoven in the 70s, they told the Volkskrant. Both clubs contacted the victims and call for other victims to come forward.

During the general meeting of Olympic Committee NOC*NSF on Monday, Klaas de Vries emphatically urged members to cooperate in his investigation into sexual harassment and abuse in sports. The former PvdA minister officially launched his investigation on Tuesday and hopes to have a report on his findings ready by December, ANP reports.

Former Minister Klaas de Vries will head a three member committee that will investigate sexual abuse in sports. Dutch Olympic Committee and sports organization NOC*NSF deliberately chose the PvdA man because he is not part of the sports world in any way and will therefore not have any conflict of interest, sources told the Volkskrant.